logo blue Deaf History -

Europe

1900 - 2000

1900 - 100

1856 - 1937: Paul-François Choppin, Sculptor (FR)

Paul-François Choppin, born in Auteuil on 26 February 1856 and died in Paris (14th arrondissement) on 13 June 1937, was a French sculptor.

He lost his hearing at the age of two and remained deaf and mute throughout his life.

1857 - 1935: Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, Rocket Scientist (RU)

Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) "The Father of Rocketry." He educated himself by reading books in his home library, particularly those on science and mathematics. He discovered physics which led him to develop inventions, such as ideas for steam-driven and wind-propelled carriages, paper aerostats, and lathes.

1861 - 1937: George W. Veditz, First Person to Film Sign Language (ASL)

1861 - 1937: George W. Veditz, First Person to Film Sign Language (ASL)

In 1904, Veditz became president of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). He had strong opinions about preserving sign language, so during his years as president he worked closely with Oscar Regensburg, the first chairman of NAD's Motion Picture Fund Committee to produce some of the earliest films that recorded sign language.

Consequently, these videos are some of the most significant documents in deaf history. 

1862 - 1943: Conrad Svendsen (NO)

Conrad Svendsen (19 August 1862 – 9 September 1943) was a Norwegian teacher for the deaf, priest and magazine editor.

1867 - 1959: Johannes Graadt van Roggen (NL)

Johannes Mattheus Graadt van Roggen (Amsterdam, 28 May 1867 – Alkmaar, 26 August 1959) was a Dutch draftsman, painter and graphic artist.

Graadt van Roggen was deaf from the age of three as a result of meningitis

1869 - 1943: Fernand Hamar, Sculptor (FR)

Fernand Joseph Job Hamar, born 15 July 1869 in Vendôme and died 10 March 1943 in Paris, was a French sculptor.

During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, between the Battle of Orleans (1870) and the Battle of Le Mans, the Prussian army pushed the Army of the Loire around Le Temple. The noise of the cannons caused the deafness of Fernand Hamar, according to his family. Around his tenth birthday, he entered the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris.

1870-1950: Peder Christian Pedersen, Painter (DK)

Peder Christian Pedersen was born on 12-10-1870 and died on 11-5-1950 in Aalborg. Ship paintings and other maritime environments were his specialty.

1872 - 1947: Jan Zoetelief Tromp (NL)

Johannes Tromp was born on December 13, 1872 in Jakarta (then Batavia). Tromp painted the daily lives of the fishing community, and especially pictures with children, showing them playing on the beach, shepherding goats or returning from the dunes. These scenes are all idyllic and resonate with a familial contentment that presumably reflected his own. 

1879 - 1963: Valentín de Zubiaurre Aguirrezábal, Painter (ES)

Valentin de Zubiaurre Aguirrezábal ( Madrid , 1879 - 1963 ), was a Spanish painter. He was born deaf, as was his brother Ramón de Zubiaurre , also a painter, three years his junior. Both were children of the musical composer Valentin de Zubiaurre Urinobarrenechea .

1881 - 1930: Maurycy Minkowski, Painter (PL)

Maurycy Minkowski was a Polish painter of Jewish ancestry, best known for his genre scenes of daily life in the shtetls. An illness he had when he was a small child left him deaf and without speech.

1884 - 1963: Eugène Rubens-Alke

1884 - 1963: Eugène Rubens-Alke

Eugène Rubens-Alke is considered to be the first pioneer of sports movement for the deaf.